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The NBA’s Big Greek Dunking Machine

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the Stephen Curry of slam dunks. The NBA’s next star has been maybe the best player in basketball this season by weaponizing the only shot worth more than an open 3-pointer: a guaranteed 2-pointer.

Stephen Curry broke the NBA record for the most 3-pointers in a season two years ago by such a wide margin that it already seems like a statistical error instead of an outlier. Nobody had ever made more than 286 threes in a season when Curry came along and made 402. A half-century earlier, when Roger Bannister first ran a mile in less than four minutes, he shaved less than 1% off the existing record. Curry was 41% above the nearest competition.

It helps to have that recent context to understand the NBA’s latest calculator...